Kolkata Knight Riders will host Rajasthan Royals tonight at Eden Gardens with an eye to topple them in the contest and stay alive in the tournament. Kolkata and Rajasthan both come into this match on the back off victories.
While Kolkata registered an emphatic victory over Kings XI, Rajasthan stunned Mumbai as Jos Buttler's entertaining innings helped Rajasthan stay alive in the tournament.
Both KKR and RR will walk into the contest with similar objectives. The luxury to drop points is now gone and a slip could well prove fatal at the stage this tournament is right now. Both teams, despite their resounding win in the previous encounter, have plenty of issues and are far from polished products heading into the business end of IPL 2018.
Kolkata's batting performance against Punjab keeps them in good stead while Rajasthan will be banking on Jos Buttler to keep up his good form. Jofra Archer's form with the ball is another highlight in Rajasthan's performance so far.
KKR have lacked the consistency but have done well to bounce back from desperate situations. After the thrashing by MI, they did well to cruise past KXIP in Indore. With a win behind them, it's crucial that they find a way to sustain the momentum. That, however, is easier said than done. RR, with the kind of form they are in, are more than capable of hurting KKR's bouncebackability.
As far as team changes from both camps for tonight's game is concerned, KKR is pondering over Shivam Mavi's fitness. Also, there is a possibility for one of the local spinners to sit out with the pitch to have pace and bounce as per reports.
Rajasthan on the back of their superb win against Mumbai will not look to tinker with the playing XI.
Toss
Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and have opted to field
Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Anureet Singh
